Epizootic situation on contagious porcine diseases in the Republic of Burundi

Introduction. In Burundi, where 80% of the population are engaged in livestock farming, industries with short reproduction cycles (pig farming, poultry farming) prevail. Despite government support measures and annually increasing pig population, the country has been unable to fully meet the demand for livestock products. This is due to numerous problems in the sector, with infectious animal diseases being the primary issue. Infectious disease outbreaks can have catastrophic consequences for the human population, including threats to food security, loss of access to animal protein, increased production costs due to the need for expensive disease control measures, and risks to human health in case of zoonotic diseases.

Objective. The aim is to study the nosological profile of porcine infectious diseases, identify factors contributing to animal infections and assess the swine erysipelas epizootic situation in the Republic of Burundi from 2018 to 2023.

Materials and methods. Data of annual reports of the General Directorate of Animal Health and test results of the National Veterinary Laboratory of Burundi (2018–2023) were used to analyze the epizootic situation on infectious porcine diseases. Retrospective and epizootiological analyses were conducted and variational statistical methods were applied.

Results. The analysis revealed a high prevalence of porcine parasitic diseases, which is attributed to the equatorial climate. Within the overall structure of infectious diseases, parasitic infestations ranked first, growing from 81.2% in 2018 to 92.8% in 2023. Bacterial infections were the second most widespread, rising from 3.6% in 2018 to 6.3% in 2023. A steady increase in swine erysipelas cases was observed: in 2023 the number of cases was 1.7 times higher than in 2022 and seven times higher than in 2020. Moreover, the number of provinces where the disease is detected is annually growing. Swine erysipelas is currently reported in 12 out of 18 Burundian provinces.

Conclusion. The Republic of Burundi suffers significant annual losses due to animal deaths caused by infectious disease outbreaks. In the absence of specific disease prevention measures (particularly for erysipelas) and weak veterinary control of animal movements between households, infections spread rapidly. Therefore, studying the epizootic situation and developing measures to stabilize it under local conditions is a crucial scientific and practical task for ensuring biological and food security.

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